with sloth and sullen expectation.

Such intense description enlivens the text throughout and creates a heady atmosphere abundant in color and smells, sounds and sights. Yet Roy avoids invoking the exotic merely for its own sake but skillfully makes this rare place at least partially responsible for its inhabitants’ behavior and misfortunes.

Allusions to other literary works and popular culture, mostly of Western origin, fill the text. References extend from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby (1925) to Elvis Presley to Batman comics to popular American television shows. All of this suggests how an anglicized family like the Ipes have one foot in the West, the other in traditional Indian culture. In fact, this conflict may partially account for their downfall. Certainly their attitudes toward and treatment of the untouchable class, supposedly outlawed in modern India, stems from centuries of prejudice, and no Western ways will change such ingrained behavior.

One allusion drawn from South Indian Hindu culture, the Kathakali dance tradition, works effectively. The form of The God of Small Things itself is comparable to that exquisite form of pantomime where every gesture tells part of the story and where the dancers are costumed elaborately. Except for the tourists who watch truncated versions of Kathakali at luxury hotels (a fact that Roy mentions in the novel), the viewers already know the story but take pleasure and find sustenance in its retelling. Roy expects much the same kind of attention from her readers, because she lays out the complete story at the novel’s beginning, then tells it again and again in elaborate and ornate gestures to an audience which already knows the plot line.

The numerous characters, both in the Ipe family and in the village, are not introduced in a forthright matter but come gradually to life through hints and increments, through fragments of information, sometimes contradictory, strewn throughout the novel. The adult twins, whose immediate experience seems at first to be the narrative’s focus but turns out not to be, emerge as shadowy figures, both of them brooding, troubled, alienated, removed from the world, and not much changed at the novel’s end. In the narrative, though, they appear for the most part as children and in this memory stage are drawn effectively. For example, their trip to the nearby city of Cochin captures childhood vividly and at times comically through their behavior at the theater where the film version of The Sound of Music is playing; also effective are their reactions to the adult world as they explore the airport terminal while waiting for their British relatives. Here Roy manages to satirize Indian anglophilia through the eyes of children. At another point, the twins’ response to their frustrated mother’s rejection also rings true, and it is this misunderstood reaction that helps to set the dire events into motion.

The adults who shape, or misshape, the twins’ lives also emerge as full characters, even through Roy’s vague method of development. Their mother is an independent woman who divorces an alcoholic husband, finds herself trapped in the family home, and rebels by forming a romantic liaison that leads to disaster. Their Oxford-educated Uncle Chacko, a sometimes comic character, flirts with communism and fails in his personal life, in business, and in most everything else. Their great-aunt, inappropriately called Baby Kochamma, still longs for the priest who chose the church over carnal love and spends her old age watching American reruns on television, accompanied by a faithful servant. Others weave in and out of the story, such as the handsome untouchable Velutha and his pathetic family, the local Communist Party leader and his family, Chacko’s former wife—a very common British woman who fell in love with the idea of romance—and the theater’s sleazy refreshment seller who violates the purity of The Sound of Music by molesting Estha in the lobby during the film’s showing.

The anguish that befalls each character might be the work of “the god of small things.” Or perhaps this “god” serves as a refuge. For this mysterious deity’s nature never emerges clearly, even in the dream sequence when the twins’ mother meets a one-armed man, then asks who he is: “Who was he, the one-armed man? Who could he have been? The God of Loss? The God of Small Things? The God of Goosebumps and Sudden Smiles? Of Sourmetal Smells—like steel bus rails and the smell of the bus conductor’s hands from holding them?” While the author need not explain a central symbol, the mystery in which Roy cloaks her “god of small things” typifies the novel’s major fault: a self-conscious obscurity, which results from a tendency to bask in cleverness.

In fact, the text reeks with a cleverness that at times spoils the straightforward narrative passages and the on-key descriptions of people and places. If a particular technique or phrase catches the author’s fancy, it seems, then the repetition gets underway. For example, the twins spell words backwards as children might; however, they do it not once or twice but so often that it becomes tedious and silly. A phrase like “two-egged twins” grates after its repeated use. Other devices, such as forced capitalization (“Someone Small” and “Someone Big” in one sentence), cute misformed words (“the Bar Nowl”—translated as barn owl; or “Prer NUN sea ayshun” for pronunciation), excessive sentence fragments, and too many combined words (“lemontoolemon”) also mar the novel. Some of the metaphors jar as well, such as “Ached for him with the whole of her biology.” After a while, the linguistic tricks, repetitiveness, artifice, and strained metaphors are so obvious and predictable that their purpose, whatever it might be, has been lost, and there is a temptation to skip the overwrought passages in order to get to the essence of the well-told story, which needs no excessive ornamentation.

This is not to say that Roy fails as a stylist. Nor should she be forbidden to experiment, to push language to its limits, or to attempt the untried. Certainly, at times she succeeds in going beyond language’s barriers and setting fictional conventions on their ear. What Roy does best, however, is to tell a story, not a direct one, but a story that unfolds imperfectly. Her sense of time’s fluidity lends the novel a quality of memory, where events reoccur in no particular order and where motivations do not always ring clear until all the pieces fall into place. There is something Faulknerian about Roy’s method of narration, but William Faulkner knew his limits. When Roy lets the story proceed without any superfluous fancy dress, she shows an accomplished mastery of narrative technique. Especially memorable are scenes such as the children’s accident on the swollen river or the carload of Ipeses on their way to The Sound of Music caught in the midst of a political protest. And Roy can handle eroticism skillfully, which the encounter between Ammu and her forbidden lover illustrates. Likewise, she can look into the interior of her characters and express what she sees convincingly; the way Ammu’s sexual frustration and her fear of insanity are handled stand as striking examples.

At its best, which is most of the time, The God of Small Things relates a chilling story that stems from those dark elements of the human condition that separate the individual from happiness: hatred, greed, jealousy, bitterness, resentment. The novel explores with sensitivity the cultural conflicts that afflict many people in post-colonial India.

Sources for Further Study

Asiaweek. XXIII, April 25, 1997, p. 45.

Far Eastern Economic Review. CLX, April 24, 1997, p. 66.

The Nation. CCLXV, September 29, 1997, p. 36.

The New York Review of Books. XLIV, August 14, 1997, p. 16.

The New York Times Book Review. CII, May 25, 1997, p. 5.

The New Yorker. LXXIII, June 23, 1997, p. 156.

Newsweek. CXXIX, May 26, 1997, p. 76.

Publishers Weekly. CCXLIV, March 3, 1997, p. 62.

The Times Literary Supplement. May 30, 1997, p. 23.

The Washington Post Book World. June 22, 1997, p. 1.

Women’s Review of Books. XIV, September, 1997, p. 1.

Due to the efforts of political and spiritual leader Mohandas Gandhi, India gained independence on August 15, 1947, at the stroke of midnight, ending over three centuries of British colonial rule. The British partitioned the former colony into two nations, India and Pakistan (which included both East and West regions). However, this partition did not quell the tensions between Hindus and Muslims. The borders were loosely based on religious majorities, leading to the deaths of millions as Hindus moved from Pakistan to Hindu-majority India, and Muslims moved from India to Muslim-majority Pakistan. In 1947, Ammu was five years old, living with her family in New Delhi, the capital of India.

Jawaharlal Nehru, who served as India's Prime Minister from Independence until his death in 1964, faced challenges in promoting economic growth and became embroiled in several territorial disputes. In Kerala, the Communist Party of India (CPI), led by E. M. S. Namboodiripad, was elected to power in 1957, but Nehru dissolved this government in 1959. In 1962, the year Rahel and Estha were born, India engaged in a brief war with China over a border conflict. The fallout from this war led to a split in the CPI, resulting in a pro-Russian faction retaining the name CPI and another faction, less influenced by foreign powers, forming the Communist Party of India (Marxist). By the mid-1960s, another split produced the Naxalites, who advocated for immediate communist revolution, while tensions with Pakistan led to war in 1965.

After Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri died of a heart attack in 1966, Nehru’s daughter, Indira Gandhi (unrelated to Mohandas Gandhi), took office amid a severe drought and rising unemployment. These conditions contributed to significant losses for Gandhi’s Indian National Congress Party in the 1967 elections. As Gandhi's vision for the Congress Party became evident, divisions arose between liberal and conservative members, leading to a split in 1969, the year Sophie Mol visited Ayemenem. Although Indira Gandhi retained control of the larger, liberal faction, she had to form alliances with left-wing parties to maintain her hold on the government.

Tensions with Pakistan escalated, leading to India's involvement in the 1971 conflict between East Pakistan and West Pakistan, resulting in the independence of Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan). In 1975, Indira Gandhi was found guilty of minor election law violations. To maintain her position, she declared a state of emergency. This widely unpopular move allowed her to arrest opposition leaders and censor the press, leading to her defeat in the 1977 elections. However, Gandhi returned to power in 1980 and engaged with foreign leaders while managing various insurgencies within India. In 1984, she ordered Indian troops to storm a Sikh temple, killing the Sikh guerillas inside, which led to her assassination by two of her Sikh bodyguards. Her son, Rajiv Gandhi, took over the leadership of the Congress Party and was elected prime minister in 1985. Although he initiated economic reforms, he faced criticism for being indecisive and lost the 1989 election.

Roy penned her novel in the early 1990s, a period marked by Rajiv Gandhi's assassination by a Sri Lankan Tamil in 1991 while campaigning for an election that many political analysts believe he would have won. The events in The God of Small Things are set in 1992, during the tenure of P. V. Narasimha Rao, the leader of Congress/I (formerly the Congress Party) who was then the prime minister. Rao was recognized for his sensitive management of Hindu-Muslim tensions, economic reforms, and progressive foreign policy in response to the collapse of the Soviet Union. However, he lost power in 1996 amid corruption charges, sparking a series of leadership struggles that continued until India announced in 1998 that it was a nuclear power, with Pakistan making a similar declaration shortly after.

Non-sequential NarrativeThe God of Small Things is crafted in a non-linear narrative style where events do not unfold in chronological order. Instead, the novel is a mosaic of flashbacks and extensive digressions that together narrate the story of the Kochamma family. The primary events of the novel are explored through the intricate history of their causes, with memories unveiled in a thematic manner, resembling how they might surface in Rahel’s mind. While the narrative voice is omniscient, or all-knowing, it is loosely anchored in Rahel’s perspective, and all episodes of the novel converge towards significant moments in Rahel’s life.

This non-linear narrative style, which shapes the form of the novel, serves as an exceptionally effective authorial tool. It grants Roy considerable flexibility in selecting which themes and events to emphasize. The author can structure her book to build up to the pivotal ideas and events at the core of the Kochamma family’s experience.

Foreshadowing
Throughout Roy’s novel, the narrative voice continuously hints at an impending, mysterious, and crucial event. Roy even provides snippets and glimpses of this event, referred to as “The Loss of Sophie Mol,” and includes characters recalling and alluding to it long before the reader learns what happened. This technique, known as foreshadowing, allows Roy to infuse The God of Small Things with significant tension and intrigue, playing with the reader's anticipation and expectations.

This narrative centers on two children and their perceptions of the world. Roy utilizes a variety of techniques to depict the children's perspectives and innocence. One such technique is the capitalization of specific words and phrases to emphasize their importance. Additionally, the children often repeat what adults say, altering the phonetics, which breaks down and reassembles words. This mirrors the children's unique way of understanding the world, distinct from the adults around them. They place different levels of importance on words and ideas, creating a fresh perspective on their surroundings. The children notice emotions and concepts that the adults either overlook or choose to ignore, assigning new significance to these elements. Throughout the story, the children use and repeat these phrases, allowing the phrases to gain independence and new meanings with each repetition.

Roy also employs a fragmented, non-linear narrative style that mirrors the process of memory, particularly the resurfacing of a previously repressed, painful memory. The unfolding of Sophie Mol's death story alongside the forward-moving tale of Rahel's return to Ayemenem and reunion with Estha creates a layered narrative. This complexity reflects both the challenging nature of the story and the intricate culture from which it arises. Time becomes somewhat static as different parts of the narrative intertwine through repetition and non-linear discovery. Roy also incorporates real-life places and people, modified for the story's context. These diverse elements combine to offer a multifaceted view of a specific instance in Indian culture and the impact of the caste system on life and love during post-colonial times. As the children strive to shape their identities, renaming themselves in the process, Roy parallels this with the intertwining of past and present. This process also reflects the broader journey of the Indian people, like many other cultures, as they seek to preserve their traditions amid growing globalization.

The two primary contexts that shape this narrative are the historical colonization of India by England and the intricacies of the Indian caste system. As an Indian author writing in English for a predominantly English-speaking readership, Roy must navigate her position within Indian society while offering her critique of it. Her fiction is not anti-English; rather, it can be seen as addressing the hasty dismissal of Indian traditions by those who might benefit from reevaluating their attitudes toward both their own people and those they consider superior.

1. Research the caste system in India and the general culture of the Southwestern region where this story is set. Did Roy accurately represent the cultural and social ideas of this time and place?

2. Investigate the communist movement in India. What role does it play in this particular story?

3. Examine A. A. Milne's original "Winnie-the-Pooh" story. Although this comparison may seem unusual, both stories use capital letters to emphasize certain words within sentences. What is the effect of this technique? Are the effects similar in both narratives? In what ways are they alike or different?

4. In what ways does "Englishness" influence this story?

5. Is Roy's storytelling approach effective? Why might she have chosen a non-linear narrative? How does this choice impact the perception of the story?

6. How would the narrative differ if Sophie Mol had not died? Would there still be a story to tell? How might the ending be different?

This novel delves into the complexities of living in a caste-based society, focusing on both those at the top and those at the bottom. The story revolves around a family descended from Reverend Ipe, who enjoy a comfortable social status. This family includes members of various ages and attitudes, from the twins, Estha and Rahel, their mother Ammu, and her brother Chacko, to the stern Baby Kochamma, and the patriarch and matriarch, Pappachi and Mammachi. They uphold a certain level of decorum and have gained additional recognition through their business, Paradise Pickles and Preserves, which thrives on Mammachi's natural culinary talents. The existence of this company highlights the opportunities available to higher-class individuals, allowing them to pursue various endeavors as they wish. Although they enjoy significant freedom, their elevated position also comes with the burden of adhering to strict social norms. They can pursue their desires, but any action that defies societal codes risks expulsion and the potential unraveling of the social fabric. This is the paradox of being near the top; they have enough freedom to look down on others but not enough to shape their fate entirely. For those at the bottom of the caste system, the Untouchables, freedom is virtually nonexistent, limited only to what the Touchables permit. These individuals can only do what they are instructed to do. The caste system faces a critical challenge when Ammu, a Touchable, falls in love with Velutha, an Untouchable. This threatens the societal structure, necessitating the emotional dismantling of those involved and the destruction of their relationship. Roy's novel brings this aspect of India's caste system to the forefront, illustrating how Ammu's transgression of valuing and desiring someone marginalized by society leads to the ruin of both their lives.

One aspect of the caste system is the practice of naming and categorizing individuals and groups. This exercise is deemed necessary as it marks and identifies those who are considered outsiders. Velutha, Ammu's lover, belongs to the Paravan class, a group collectively referred to by this derogatory term. Estha and Rahel, throughout the novel, resist this social construct by renaming themselves and others. They adopt different identities to challenge the roles imposed on them by the caste system. This renaming also serves as a coping mechanism for being the children of a woman who has chosen to live independently of her family's expectations. It is their way of dealing with the tragedies they face, such as the death of their cousin Sophie Mol and Estha's molestation by the Orangedrink Lemondrink Man. Baby Kochamma resents the children's ability to escape societal constraints and find happiness and closeness within each other, and she works to humiliate and punish them for this defiance.

The Ipe family's culture becomes even more intricate due to the interaction of Western principles with Indian society at various levels. Later in the story, Rahel marries an American and lives in the United States for a period. Her husband fails to understand her, leading to their eventual divorce. This cultural clash results in misunderstanding and sadness. In another instance, Baby Kochamma purchases a satellite dish, and television becomes the focal point for both her and Kochu Maria. Baby Kochamma's once-renowned garden falls into neglect as she spends hours watching English and American TV shows. Ironically, television becomes a unifying factor as Baby Kochamma and Kochu Maria, master and servant, find common ground in the shared glow of the TV screen.

Apart from television, the main event where Western culture intersects with the Indian traditions of this family is Sophie Mol's visit. She and her mother bring Western ideas and values, which are further amplified by Baby Kochamma and Mammachi. This is particularly true for Chacko, who, after studying at Oxford, holds Western ideology in the highest regard. Chacko often uses his "Reading Aloud" voice and frequently references his Oxford experiences, reflecting his affinity for Western culture.

Ammu and her children resist the preference for Western over native Indian culture, feeling that some family members take a condescending tone when expressing their Western preferences. This tension peaks during Sophie Mol and Margaret Kochamma's visit, as they are treated with special favor and admiration. In an effort to please and impress these guests, Baby Kochamma, Mammachi, and Chacko urge Estha and Rahel to suppress their Indian identity and adopt an English demeanor. Baby Kochamma insists they speak only English, learn English songs for the car ride from the airport, and wear their most uncomfortable, formal attire to make a good impression.

The children are compelled, against their will, to conform to an uncomfortable and unnatural standard because the family believes that English culture is inherently superior to Indian. Although Ammu allows this to happen, she can only tolerate so much, especially when Margaret appears to insult Indian customs. The children, in their discomfort, seek refuge from the elaborate display their family puts on for the English visitors by playing with Velutha, an Untouchable.

Their comfort with Velutha, more than with any other family member except their mother, highlights the unnatural and harmful segregation enforced by the caste system. This becomes utterly clear as Ammu and Velutha's relationship ultimately tears the family apart.

• 1969: E. M. S. Namboodiripad's communist government in Kerala collapses for the second time, leading to a split within the Indian National Congress Party.

  1991: Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi is assassinated, and P. V. Narasimha Rao takes over. By 1996, Rao is ousted amid leadership conflicts.

  Today: In May 2004, Manmohan Singh becomes Prime Minister after the Congress Party's unexpected election victory. Sonia Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi's widow, declines the position to placate Hindu nationalists. Communism remains influential in Kerala politics.

• 1969: Kerala, a verdant and warm region in southern India, boasts a uniquely high literacy rate. Public welfare systems have significantly improved since independence, although the agricultural economy is still reminiscent of the British Raj era.

  1990s: Kerala's economy continues to focus on rubber, coconut, and spice production. However, economic reforms are increasingly emphasizing large private corporations, and India is becoming more open to foreign investment.

  Today: India ranks among the world's largest and fastest-growing economies, with a continued trend towards privatization. Kerala's literacy rate is nearly ninety percent, the highest in India.

• 1969: Post-colonial Indian literature in English is gaining popularity, with writers like R. K. Narayan leading the way.

  1990s: Salman Rushdie has been a significant influence on the Indo-British literary scene since his 1981 publication of Midnight’s Children.

  Today: Indian literature in English is a broad and diverse genre. Arundhati Roy stands out as one of its most successful authors, despite having published only one novel.

Salman Rushdie's book Midnight's Children is particularly pertinent to Roy's chosen themes, as his novel revolves around a family during India's struggle for independence. Similarly, Amitav Ghosh's novel Shadow Lines traces the lives of two families, one Indian and one English, spanning three generations from 1939 to the present day. Both of these novels delve into the dynamics between the colonizer and the colonized, exploring the aftermath of their separation.

Bharati Mukherjee, in her novel The Tiger's Daughter, examines the clash of Western culture and contemporary India through the story of Tara, an Indian-born, American-educated woman returning to India. From the English perspective, covering an earlier era, E. M. Forster's A Passage to India stands out as a prominent work by an English author that addresses England's colonization of India. Although Roy's fiction is set in a later period compared to Forster's or Rushdie's, the themes remain consistent, highlighting the enduring impact of colonization as Indians continue to reconcile the English intrusion into their history and traditions.

The God of Small Things is Roy's debut novel. As a screenwriter, Roy has contributed to Indian cinema and later authored a nonfiction piece discussing India's governmental errors rooted in misguided arrogance, among other issues. This nonfiction work, titled The Cost of Living, similarly to The God of Small Things, exemplifies Roy's effort to expose widely accepted yet harmful practices within Indian society.

In The Cost of Living, she examines the development of two symbols of India's "progress": dams and nuclear weapons. Through this work, she reveals the deception and destruction caused by India's leadership in the pursuit of these technological advancements.

An abbreviated edition of The God of Small Things, narrated by Sarita Choudhury, is accessible on cassette from Harper Audio.

Sources
Menon, Ritu. “The Age of Innocence,” in Women’s Review of Books, Vol. 14, No. 12, September 1997, pp. 1–3.

National University of Singapore. Postcolonial and Post Imperial Literature online, www.postcolonialweb.org, March 29, 2005.

Review of The God of Small Things, in Kirkus Reviews, March 15, 1997, p. 412.

Roy, Arundhati. The God of Small Things, Random House, 1997.

Further Reading
Dodiya, Jaydipsinh, and Joya Chakravarty. The Critical Studies of Arundhati Roy’s “The God of Small Things.” Atlantic Publishers & Distributors, 1999. This collection, published in New Delhi, is the first comprehensive volume of criticism on Roy’s novel.

Eder, Richard. “As the World Turns,” in Los Angeles Times Book Review, June 1, 1997, p. 2. Eder offers a mixed review of Roy’s novel, commending her vivid portrayal of the story and characters but suggesting she loses grip on the narrative.

Thornmann, Janet. “The Ethical Subject of The God of Small Things,” in Journal for the Psychoanalysis of Culture and Society, Vol. 8, No. 2, Fall 2003, pp. 299–307. Thornmann’s psychoanalytic interpretation of Roy’s novel discusses the relevance of the Oedipal complex within the work.

Truax, Alice. “A Silver Thimble in Her Fist,” in the New York Times Book Review, May 25, 1997, p. 5. Truax’s detailed review of The God of Small Things exemplifies the highly positive reception of Roy’s work in the United States.